Frequently Asked Questions

What materials do you use?

I work on unbleached calico that I dye by hand, and single strands of sewing thread (either cotton or polyester). My designs are drawn onto the fabric with a vanishing fabric marker, and I almost always use size 12 needles.

Do you take commissions?

Although I welcome commissions from commercial clients, I don’t currently accept private commissions (such as pet portraits). I can sometimes reserve particular pieces of work though, so send me an email at chloegiordano@hotmail.co.uk if you’d like to do so.

What is this type of embroidery called?

Freehand needlepainting.

How long do your embroideries take?

Depending on the size and complexity of the design they can take between one day and several weeks. The average timespan for my animal embroideries is probably around a week.

Do you have any advice for beginners?

As I never learned traditional embroidery techniques I can’t offer a great deal of advice on how to get started - my own embroidery journey has been a case of trying out various ideas and seeing what worked best, followed by a lot of practice.

Do you have any tutorials/videos showing how you work?

At the moment I haven’t created any tutorials, my way of working is very intuitive and the basic technique is very simple (a repeated straight stitch) which doesn’t lend itself very well to step by step instructions. I have a Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh79sPI2slI3T5H1yRGwLbQ) where I have begun to upload videos of myself working.

Do you sell patterns of your designs?

As my work is freehand there is no pattern, I work from my drawings that have been created using a combination of reference and imagination.